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A review by chaoticbookgremlin_
The Mars House by Natasha Pulley
challenging
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
When I first started this book, I was wondering if my initial lack of enjoy was due to actual problems I was having, or just because I don't read much sci-fi novels (generally because I almost never enjoy them, which is weird since I LOVE sci-fi films). However, the longer this book dragged on, the more it became apparent that the issue was not sorely in my tastes.
I was initially so excited to read this. Political intrigue, a marriage of convenience, semi-rivals to lovers - what wasn't there to be excited about? However, the rivals to lovers went away almost immediately. As soon as Gale proposed to January, the dislike between them went away very quickly, taking away a lot of the tension from their romantic subplot. January suddenly becomes weirdly good a politics - which, I get he was a dancer and all and was used to the spotlight, but that's very different. And the romance I was promised is almost non-existent. A few looks here and there, one kiss, and very tentative shoulder-touching. While I usually don't care much if a book has romance or not, the fact that the first line in the description reads that this is a "compulsively queer sci-fi novel about a marriage of convenience between a Mars politician and an Earth refugee."
Which brings me to my next point - the worldbuilding. I had no idea what the heck was going on with all the Mars terraforming and that, and as somebody who needs heavy worldbuilding and explanation of every facet of the system, that was sorely disappointing. It took over 300 pages to finally explain how there was oxygen on Mars without it being whisked away by the solar winds. It was utterly infuriating how long my worldbuilding questions went without being answered.
So, there you go. Do what you will with this review, but I think I'm just ranting at this point. If my feedback ratio wasn't so low, I might have DNF'd this.
I was initially so excited to read this. Political intrigue, a marriage of convenience, semi-rivals to lovers - what wasn't there to be excited about? However, the rivals to lovers went away almost immediately. As soon as Gale proposed to January, the dislike between them went away very quickly, taking away a lot of the tension from their romantic subplot. January suddenly becomes weirdly good a politics - which, I get he was a dancer and all and was used to the spotlight, but that's very different. And the romance I was promised is almost non-existent. A few looks here and there, one kiss, and very tentative shoulder-touching. While I usually don't care much if a book has romance or not, the fact that the first line in the description reads that this is a "compulsively queer sci-fi novel about a marriage of convenience between a Mars politician and an Earth refugee."
Which brings me to my next point - the worldbuilding. I had no idea what the heck was going on with all the Mars terraforming and that, and as somebody who needs heavy worldbuilding and explanation of every facet of the system, that was sorely disappointing. It took over 300 pages to finally explain how there was oxygen on Mars without it being whisked away by the solar winds. It was utterly infuriating how long my worldbuilding questions went without being answered.
So, there you go. Do what you will with this review, but I think I'm just ranting at this point. If my feedback ratio wasn't so low, I might have DNF'd this.